Is Trent Dilfer saying what 49ers GM Trent Baalke is thinking?

Trent Dilfer is a very good friend of 49ers GM Trent Baalke, and Dilfer now appears on ESPN’s “NFL Countdown” every Sunday morning, which means one key thing:

We get to hear what the very sheltered and media-shy Baalke is really thinking.

Because that’s what Dilfer is going to give us on any and all 49ers topics, and he did not fail his buddy on Sunday–in fact, let’s go ahead and anoint Dilfer as Baalke’s unofficial spokesman and spin-meister.

Dilfer of course weighed in on the Colin Kaepernick anthem protest and reaction, and–not at all surprisingly–Dilfer blasted Kaepernick for the situation, generally saying it was a selfish act that was clearly bad for the 49ers.

Note: I don’t believe Dilfer’s screed came from owner Jed York, who has been supportive of Kaepernick’s stance in public and behind-the-scenes.

No, this is almost certainly a channeling of Baalke, who has wanted to dump Kaepernick for months predating the anthem protest and probably is even less pleased with the QB now.

So…

On Sunday morning, Dilfer said Kaepernick is a “back-up quarterback whose job is to be quiet, and sit in the shadows” and help get the starting QB ready, and that Kaepernick’s actions have “torn at the fabric of the team.”

But wait: Actual 49ers players of both races have all said the exact opposite, that Kaepernick’s stance and his openness about talking through the issues has helped bring this locker room together.

What’s Dilfer’s point here? I think it’s very, very obvious: He’s carrying Baalke’s water, and Baalke is increasingly alone in that franchise, so maybe Baalke’s people are getting more desperate.

And obvious.

This Dilfer rant wasn’t really a normal 49ers’ leak–the way the 49ers front-office leaked like a sieve in order to undermine Jim Harbaugh in 2014 and Kaepernick (hey, just a coincidence I’m sure!) last season.

This was Baalke’s buddy–they’ve gone to at least one Sharks game together, they’ve been friends for years–on a national platform, deciding to take shots at a player Baalke dislikes, and probably using some of the exact words Baalke has used in private.

Hey, Dilfer has his right to his opinion. Baalke has the right, too. They can mind-meld and bro-bond all they want.
But I disagree totally with the view that Kaepernick has less of a right to speak out on social issues just because he’s a football player and I have no idea where Dilfer is getting the idea that Kaepernick has split apart the locker room.

Unless that’s what Baalke thought would happen, and Baalke–not exactly a man of the locker room–theoretically seems to have been proven dead wrong on that, and probably doesn’t want to admit it.

Theoretically.

So his guy Dilfer goes on national TV and blasts Kaepernick.

I’m not suggesting Baalke asked Dilfer to do this or suggested the lines he used, or even knew for sure it was coming. I’m saying Dilfer and Baalke are acting as a duality right now–same thoughts, same anger, same frustrations, all pointed at Kaepernick.

Yes, this kind of ESPN shaming attempt really will bring people together! (Well, it probably brought the 49ers players together in dislike of Dilfer and, once they put the pieces together, in distrust of Baalke. Further dislike. And further distrust, that is.)

Of course, Dilfer has happily spread cheer and joy about the 49ers in the recent past, when it fit Baalke’s purposes–and almost certainly after speaking at length with Baalke and York.

This is getting complicated for Baalke and his buddies, though, because unlike the Harbaugh attack, when York was leading the charge, this time the Yorks have backed Kaepernick since the protest became public and followed that up with a $1M donation to charities that work with the underprivileged.

No, I think Baalke wants Kaepernick out, but the Yorks and Chip Kelly want him on the team.

And Dilfer is choosing Baalke. Which could get tricky for a guy used to being cozy with both power-brokers in the franchise.

Oh, and maybe this is a sign of an emerging split on the team… but that the split is between Baalke and… everybody else in football operations, including Kelly and York.

Remember, Kelly kept the playing field level for Kaepernick and Gabbert throughout camp–probably to Baalke’s irritation–and I believe Kelly is the one who made the decision to keep Kaepernick on this roster, because Kaepernick is clearly one of the team’s best two QBs.

As a 49ers back-up QB almost a decade ago, Dilfer gave his opinions on everything. I can attest, because that’s when I stopped listening to him–while he was telling the world that embattled OC Jim Hostler was a “superstar football coach.”

No, actually Hostler wasn’t that.

And remember, Kaepernick was not a backup QB when he started this protest. He was competing for the #1 job.

Unless Trent & Trent knew or hoped for something else? Like, maybe, that Kaepernick would be off the team soon?

That didn’t happen. There is rage, but it’s not in the 49ers’ locker room. That bubbling anger seems to be pretty much isolated to the GM and his closest allies.